DAMASCUS (Reuters) – New Syrian authorities on Thursday launched a security campaign in a coastal area where 14 policemen were killed the day before, state media reported, and pledged to pursue “remnants” of Bashar al-Assad's ousted government accused of the attack.
The violence in Tartous Governorate, part of the coastal region inhabited by many from Assad's Alawite sect, represents the bloodiest challenge yet to the Sunni Islamist-led authorities who ousted him from power on December 8.
The Syrian news agency SANA reported that the security forces of the new administration launched an operation to “establish security, stability and civil peace and pursue the remnants of Assad’s militias in the forests and hills” in the Tartous countryside.
Members of the Alawite minority, a branch of the Shiite sect, enjoy great influence in Assad-led Syria, dominating the security forces that he used against his opponents during the 13-year civil war, and crushing the opposition during decades of bloody repression. By his police state.
Reflecting sectarian tensions, the demonstrators chanted, “Oh Ali!” Pictures posted on social media on Wednesday showed a rally outside the local government headquarters in Tartous. Reuters verified the location of the photos.
The chant was a reference to Ali bin Abi Talib, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad who is revered by Muslims, but especially highly respected by Alawites and Shiites, who believe that Ali and his descendants should have led the Islamic community.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, the former al-Qaeda wing that led the opposition campaign that ousted Assad, has repeatedly pledged to protect religious minorities who fear the new rulers will seek to impose a conservative form of Islamic rule.
SANA reported that Muhammad Othman, the newly appointed governor of the coastal Latakia region adjacent to the Tartous region, met with Alawite sheikhs “to encourage community cohesion and civil peace on the Syrian coast.”
Homs protest
The Syrian Ministry of Information announced a ban on what it described as “the circulation or publication of any media content or news of a sectarian nature aimed at sowing division” among Syrians.
The Syrian civil war has taken on sectarian dimensions, with Assad using Shiite militias from across the Middle East, mobilized by his ally Iran, to fight the insurgency dominated by the Sunni majority, many of whom are Islamists.
The opposition also appeared in the city of Homs, 150 kilometers north of Damascus. State media reported that police imposed a curfew on Wednesday night, following unrest linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the Alawite and Shiite sects.
Footage posted on social media on Wednesday from Homs showed a crowd of people dispersing, some running, as gunfire was heard. Reuters verified the site. It was not clear who fired the shots.
Iran, Assad's long-time regional ally, has criticized the course of events in Syria in recent days.
On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to “stand with firm determination against those who planned and caused this insecurity.”
Khamenei expected that “a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because the Syrian youth today have nothing to lose,” describing the country as unsafe.
Newly appointed Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani said in a social media post on Tuesday that Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and Syria’s sovereignty and security.
He added, “We warn them against spreading chaos in Syria and hold them responsible for the repercussions of the recent statements.”
Lebanon said on Thursday that it looks forward to establishing the best good-neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah played a key role in supporting Assad during the civil war, before returning its fighters to Lebanon over the past year to fight in a bruising war with Israel, a redeployment that weakened the Syrian government's lines.
